It was cold (34F) & clear at 6:00AM today but by lunchtime it was 65F & 73F on my afternoon commute. As I arrived home for lunch, I saw a pair of bald eagles flying low over the lake, they were playing follow the leader through some fairly intricate maneuvers & totally ignored the flock of Canada geese that scattered when they appeared. Neat to see them flying so low. Don

Wind and rain for the last three days here, plus I have been feeling a little of colour. we have a three day weekend ahead (public holiday on Monday) so at least there is a chance to recharge before next week.

Hava a good weekend folks,

Ed

Took the old bike in today while getting a heap of new components put on the new one. It responded well to the usual Surfers Pardise idiots, including one particularly brilliant save to avoid a moron who slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road for no readily apparent reason.

Great ride this morning. I had a flat yesterday on the way home, second one in 3 days since I bought this new tire, so I'm riding a lot more carefully.

I see and hear these chickens when I go through Kernersville on my commute. I have no idea what this guy does with all these chickens, but they're tied to the little houses and seem well taken care of.

Dave

Good ride home yesterday. It was a bit cold, but I managed to get home before the rain came in. Very slight headwind, but nothing too bad.

After I got home, I ran upstairs to refill my water bottle, got yelled at by the cat, then jumped on the roadie and headed over to a friend's place for dinner (12 miles). My wife was already over there, so I didn't have to ride home in the rain...

Today is my day off for the week - have ridden every day since Saturday, with over 180 miles for the week.

Nice cool ride in this morning. Temperature above freezing. Cloudy. I got a late start which meant I crossed paths with another bike commuter that goes in the opposite direction to me in town. Always a wave and smile exchanged. On the news last night it was announced that Great Falls has the 4 cleanest air quality in the nation! (due to the wind blowing the pollution to Saskatoon.)

Weatherman said it's been the driest month ever.

I heard this morning from UW atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass that average rain fall for April is over an inch less then average. However I don't think it is the driest month ever

Anyway the clear blues skies continue with temps up again. Great ride in today, with little wind and very comfortable temps. Quite a few people on the trail though, but still reasonable to cycle at speed. The geese seem to be fleeing the rising temperatures but I saw a full family of ducks the other day.

The good weather is supposed to continue through Saturday with more normal WA spring like weather (read rain) for the next week. So smoke 'em if you got 'em so to speak.

It was a nice day down South also Kodama, 40F at 6 AM & 80F on my ride home this afternoon. I had fun riding my MotoBecane Grand Jubile in the sunshine, lots of other cyclists out all this week. Don

Another beautiful day in eco-topia today. This morning I rode one of my touring bikes downtown & then went South on Capitol way. There was some kind of charity run/walk going on so lots of foot traffic in the right lane as I left town. On the way back, I noticed my rear derailleur cable had lost its cap & was beginning to fray so I stopped by the BikeStand shop to get a new cap before it got any worse. Wrench insisted on putting it on for me, no charge. Don

Nashville, TN 8:30 AM
Wetter than wet. Did NOT know this was coming, I don't think it was forecast.
Upside is, there was so much water, that the post-ride wipedown was without the
usual buildup of silt, sand, and gunk. Made for easy cleanup.

The sun is back out now, which made for a great ride in this morning - temps in the 50s, slight headwind but nothing nasty. I put a Blackburn Expedition rack on the bike over the weekend - man that thing is solid! Not a sound from it. I'll be buying some panniers this week to replace my backpack, which should make things more pleasant for my back.

On a mechanical note, I'm getting a bit tired of my rear wheel going out true (every second or third day) and don't really want to spend any money on this old rig, so I may have just found an excuse to buy a new bike! Woohoo!!!

Nice ride in this morning, a little cool (low 30's F). Went for my lunch cruise and it's 55F... man, I wish we'd get some warm weather. Well, at least things are starting to bloom and we are seeing a little sunshine. They say it might warm up later in the week... we'll see.

A little worn out today from a great weekends riding and the usual too little sleep so I took it kind of easy. Nice day, with a mostly cloud covered sky with streaks of blue to keep it interesting. A comfortable 60(f)-ish degrees and variable light wind that was mostly blowing across me. The humidity has been really high the last few days and rain is predicted for this week (starting this afternoon perhaps) Near the end of my commute a Quail rain out of the weeds on the side of the road then ran away from me eventually flying off as I came to close. I don't see a lot of quail around here so pretty unusual and cool to see the bird so close. Also glad I chased it away from the traffic.

It was warm here in South Puget Sound country today with a gentle breeze, 72F on my commute home & just beginning to cloud up in preparation for the rain promised tomorrow. Our computer system at work picked up a virus & crashed Statewide a little after 7AM. It was down all day so hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow. My wife called me about 7:15 to report a "wolf" standing in our back yard. After I got her calmed down & got a description out of her it sounds like a male coyote a little larger than most. We have had intermittent visits by 2 or 3 at a time for the last few years & we can sometimes hear them across the lake at night but they seem to be getting bolder of late. This one just stood his ground until my wife walked out from our doorway onto the deck & made throwing motions at him. She could have just let my two hunting dogs out of the kennel & they would have chased him off but she was afraid they might hurt him.(not likely)....Don

Temperatures of around 15C when I set off at 7am this morning. Still in short sleeves, then. Pleasant enough ride, except for the fact that I saw Halley's comet six times while waiting for a set of lights to change.

Rain, 45 degrees and 10 mph north wind---first day commuting yesterday. Would someone from the Seattle area please come by and pick up your weather? It's overstayed it's welcome.

Last night I looked at my mitts and toque, thinking I should probably put them away. This morning I was wearing them. Temp of 0 C, slight wind, nice bright sun coming up over Lake Ontario. Riding a Kuwahara Shasta that was rescued from the landfill last week, just needed air in the tires and some cleaning. It has a SunTour XC sport 7000 rear derailleur combined with Shimano Biopace chainwheels. Still not sure if I'll keep it or not, I think I like riding my Norco commuterized MTB's better. Tried posting a pic on the thread, couldn't get it to go.

Crabbydeb - congratulations on your first commute! I think you found today quite a change from yesterday!

Cool (45F/7C) and sunny this morning in Washington -- about what spring days are supposed to be. I cant get over how green everything has suddenly become.

Paul

I skirted the edge of a storm all the way home yesterday, which meant very strong headwinds and a little bit of rain. Nothing too bad, though - it just gave me a slightly better workout!

This morning was a great ride. No traffic issues, great temperature, slight headwind. I gave the bike a good clean, degrease, and re-lube last night, so it seemed to be much happier this morning.

Horrible ride this morning. Wind and rain, plus I have a sore throat and the beginnings of a cold. The rain has passed now, but it will still be very windy for the ride home, which is not terribly inviting, as I don't feel all that good.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow...

Cheers,

Ed

Crabbydeb: Our North West Spring maritime weather pattern has almost settled back in today so you should see some relief soon. Very heavy overcast with dark, threatening clouds but as of my lunchtime commute, no rain & the streets are still dry. I'm a bit tired & worn out after a late meeting last night. Don

As ollo_ollo reports for SW WA holds for the Seattle area: fully overcast and windy with rain predicted. Still tired today and the 10-15mph headwind did not help with that. Still beats driving though.

Spring is for real now. I haven't worn tights in 2 weeks. I do still need long sleeves in the a.m. but some evenings I've worn short sleeves. Acid rain is real, this year I have only seen 3 road killed salamanders. The first spring I commuted, I saw 10 to 15 a day for 2 weeks. Spring brings out the evening cyclists. 3 roadies passed me tonight. The embarassing part was that I was going fast for me (19mph/30kph) and they blew past like I was standing still. Color me green with envy.

The road safety campaign for salamanders must be working! The 'roos and koalas down here have got it worked out with designated crossings...